The World's first blue chrysanthemum

True blue flowers are a rarity in nature—they occur only in select species like delphiniums. In fact, according to the Royal Horticultural Society’s colour scale—the gold standard for flowers—most “blues” are really violet or purple.

Now, researchers have created a genuinely blue chrysanthemum by adding two genes to the normally pink or reddish flower. A plant biologist at a Research station in Tsukuba, Japan, added a gene from Canterbury bell (Campanula medium) into a chrysanthemum, followed by a gene from a blue-flowered butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea).

The next step for the researchers is to make blue chrysanthemums sterile so that they can’t reproduce and escape into the wild, only then may it be possible grow blue chrysanthemums as a commercial crop. It’s not that simple though as these genetically modified organisms are not accepted in some parts of the world, including in Europe.